Vivarthana Dance Production in Greensboro

APRIL 13, 2019

Rama Vaidyanathan and Ensemble perform VIVARTANA - Dance Transforms, including:
Pratikriya - Dance Responds: Poem in English by Rama Vaidyanathan, translated into Sanskrit by Divyanand Jha; music composition by Ramya Sundareshan Kapadia.
Samyoga – Dance Merges:  Tamil Verses from Tirumular’s Tirumandiram; music composition by Dr. S. Vasudevan.
Nimagna – Dance Immerses:  Poem in Persian by Rumi; music composition Rajat Prasanna, resource persons Dr. Sayeeda Hameed and Prof. Masud Alvi. Poem in Kashmiri by Lalded; music composition Rajat Prasanna. Poem in Braj Bhasha by Meera Bai. Poem by Muthuswamy Dikshitar.
Pratibodhana – Dance Awakens: Poem in Gujarati by Narsihn Mehta; resource person Dr. Harsha Dehejia, music composition Dr. S Vasudevan.
Rasa Bhava – Dance Evokes:  Sanskrit verses from Nandikeswara’s Abhinaya Darpana; music composition K. Venkateshwaran.
Concept, Script, and Choreography for all pieces by Classical dancer Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan

Nrityangan Kathak Academy's 6th Annual Showcase

You are cordially invited to Nrityangan Kathak Academy's 6th Annual Showcase on February 23, 2019.
Nrityangan Kathak Academy is a local non profit organization whose mission is to promote and educate the community in the north Indian classical dance style of Kathak. In line with its mission, Nrityangan hosts an annual showcase free of charge which is open to the greater Indiana community.
 Please save the date for this signature event! Details are in the flyer below:

Performance by Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan and Ensemble

VIVARTANA
by
Smt.Rama Vaidyanathan and Ensemble 
On 28 April 2018 at 5:30pm 
at 
Creekside Middle School Auditorium, Carmel, IN 46032


Dance transforms my pulse to pace with rhythm and I become one with rhythm
Dance transforms the space around me and I become one with space
Dance transforms my body from stillness to motion and I become one with movement
Dance transforms my soul from singular to plural and I become one with the world
Rama Vaidyanathan and Ensemble perform VIVARTANA


Nrityapriya performs at Sangam 2017 organized by Lilly India Network!

Its with great pleasure and honor we announce our performance at the great event Sangam - "Cross Roads of Culture" organized by Lilly India Network. We thank the office bearers and committee members of Lilly India Network for this wonderful opportunity. We will be presenting a condensed version of "Sri Rama Charitham" at this event and the performance duration will be about 45 minutes. We will be using recorded music for this show. At this moment we are rehearsing at our very best capacity and working on the re-recording of some of the songs as the original version of songs are longer and can not be contained in 45 minutes. The musicians working with us for the recording are Smt. Geetha Navanithan, vocal Sri. Gautham Sacheendran, vocal Sri. Ajay Ravichandran, Mridangam Kumari. Alekhya Angaraju, Violin

Sri Rama Charitham by Nrityapriya Fine arts a huge success !

First of all, we would like to thank every one who attended the program and made it a huge success. We had more than 520 people in the auditorium from the beginning to end. Thanks to all sponsors and donors who made this classical dance drama program possible.

Please see the highlights of the program here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYpg30g-8cc&feature=youtu.be

The program started with a small pushpanjali by Kumari Jwala Rejimon in Bharatanatyam and Ganesha stuthi, presented by Smt. Aparna Satheesan, in Kuchpudi. Pushpanjali is a traditional show opener where the dancer pays obeisance to God, the gurus, the musicians, and the audience, and asks for blessings that the dance might proceed without any obstacles. Sri Ganesha Charanam, the ganesha stuthi, is also an introductory piece in Kuchpudi where the dancer praises Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles. Pushpanjali was in ragam charukesi, taalam sankeerna chapu, choreographed by Smt. Savithri Jagannatha Rao. Sri Ganesha Charanam, was in ragam Thilang, in Adi Taalam, choreographed by Smt. Aparna Satheesan.

Sri Rama Charitham,  a presentation combining Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Yakshagana, and Kathak in an effort to present the epic of Ramayanam in a colorful and unique setting. Sri. Rajendra Kedlaya (as Ravana), the Yakshagana artist, Smt. Aparna Satheesan (as Rama), will be presenting Kuchipudi in this drama. The Bharatanatyam dance form will be presented by Smt. Savitha Venkatapathy (as Lakshmana) and Kumari Jwala Rejimon (as Seetha). Kumari Karnika Mehrotra (as Mareecha) will be presenting the art form of Kathak , Kumari Madhumitha Rajendra (as Hanuman). This collaborative presentation is aimed at preserving the essence of each dance form and portraying the unique styles in their purest classical form.

Vocalists : Smt. Geetha Navanithan and Sri.Sai Rathinasabapathy
Mridangam : Sri.Ganesan Gajendran
Violin : Sri.Jayaprakash Pakala
Flute : Sri.Nataraj Gunda
Tabla: Amudhan Venkateswaran
Nattuvanar: Smt. Savitha Venkatapathy
Narration: Smt. Anindita Sen
Produced by Nrityapriya Fine Arts
www.nrityapriya.org

Synopsys:
The story of Rama is from one of the greatest Hindu epics, Ramayana. Ayana means journey, thus Ramayana means the journey of Rama. Ramayana, sage Valmiki’s magnum opus, was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry, Indian life and culture. The characters of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman and Ravana are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India.Analysis of Ramayana as a literary work shows a complex story that weaves a web of heroism, adventure, romance, familial ties and Dharma, which means righteousness. The various versions of Ramayana and the range of its influence in South and Southeast Asia over the past twenty‐five hundred years is astonishing. The story of Rama can be found in Balinese, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, Javanese, Khotanese, Laotian, Malaysian, Prakrit, Santali, Sinhalese, Thai, Tibetan, and the various Indian languages including sanskrit.
The battle of good versus evil is a major theme in the Ramayana portrayed in the conflict between Rama and Ravana. Sree Rama is not only a great warrior but also a virtuous presence that purifies wrongdoings and frees those who are being punished for sins. That is why he is called Purushottama- the Greatest among all Beings.
Ramayana is not a story in which good and evil are necessarily intrinsic: they are the result of choices. For example, Ravana, the evil rakshasa who plays the antagonist in this story, was such a holy person in his youth that the gods themselves granted him gifts of strength and near-invincibility. Ravana is charismatic, powerful, intelligent, and handsome; in other words, he possesses virtues similar to those that Rama has. However, Ravana decided to use his virtues in a very different way from Rama. Through rigorous penance, Ravana earned the blessings of Shiva and was granted a boon that he could only be vanquished by a human that is helped by a monkey. Drunk with arrogance and presuming himself to be immortal, Ravana let his demonic side manifest unhindered. He seized the Kingdom of Lanka from his half-brother Kubera, and his transgressions and cruelties echoed around the four corners of the world.

Invitation to the upcoming program


Nrityapriya Fine Arts takes great pleasure in formally inviting you to Sri Rama Charitham, a theater presentation that artfully combines multiple Indian Classical dance forms with a live orchestra on Sunday, July 16th at 3.30 P.M. at Westfield High School Auditorium.

Nrityapriya Fine Arts Inc. is a non-profit organization that was formed to promote accomplished and upcoming Indian Classical dancers in and around Central Indiana.

Sri Rama Charitham is a presentation combining Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Yakshagana, and Kathak in an effort to present the epic of Ramayanam in a colorful and unique setting. Sri. Rajendra Kedlaya, the Yakshagana artist, is a senior dancer and disciple of Guru Bannanje Sanjeeva Suvarna. Smt. Aparna Satheesan, disciple of Guru Dhananjayans and Smt. Vyjayanti Kashi, will be presenting Kuchipudi in this drama, although she is expertly trained in Bharatanatyam as well. The Bharatanatyam dance form will be presented by Kumari Jwala Rejimon, disciple of Smt. Mangala Anand, Smt. Savithri Jagannatha Rao, and Smt. Nithya Kalyani Vaidyanathan. Kumari Karnika Mehrotra, disciple of Smt. Anindita Sen, will be presenting the art form of Kathak. This collaborative presentation is aimed at preserving the essence of each dance form and portraying the unique styles in their purest classical form.

It would be our honor and pleasure to provide you with a glimpse of our rich and vibrant culture. We look forward to seeing you and your family at the event. 



Sri Rama Charitham

Nrityapriya Fine Arts
Sri Rama Charitham is a dance drama based on Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit epic that is traditionally attributed to the authorship of Sage Valmiki. The story revolves around Lord Rama's seemingly endless search for his beautiful and virtuous wife Sita, who was kidnapped by a terrible demon king. Events unfold when Rama's stepmother plots to deny Rama his rightfully inherited throne. As a result, Rama is exiled to the forest and leaves Ayodhya with Sita and his stepbrother Lakshmana. During their exiled days in the forest, Rama and Lakshmana encounter Surpanaka, a demoness who approaches them with intents of courtship. Angered by their rejection, Surpanaka tries to attack Sita, but gets injured by Lakshmana. Surpanaka then encourages her brother Ravana, the demon king, to abduct and wed Sita. Ravana, who is smitten after laying eyes on Sita, immediately abducts her and takes her to his palace in Sri Lanka. The heartbroken Rama desperately searches for his wife, aided by several creatures, including a monkey God named Hanuman who invents unique strategies to outwit Ravana and bring Sita home. Epic battles ensue, tricks are played, and ultimately good triumphs over evil. Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya, where he rightfully takes his place as king.

We will be presenting different episodes of Ramayana in this dance drama using various dance forms of India.

Bharathanatyam: Presumably the oldest classical dance form of India, it is originated from Tamil Nadu, and is guided by the ancient Sanskrit text of Natya Shastra. 

Kuchipudi: A dance-drama performance art, with its root also in the Natya Shastra, originated in a village of Krishna district of Andra Pradesh. 
Yakshagana: A traditional theatre form that combines dance, music, dialogue, costume, and makeup with a unique style. This art form is mainly found in Karnataka.

Dancers
Smt. Aparna Satheesan, Kum. Jwala Rejimon, Sri. Rajendra Kedlaya, Smt. Savitha Venkatapathy


Kum. Karnika Mehrotra, Kum. Madhumita Rajendra 

Nattuvanar 
Smt. Savitha Venkatapathy

Master of Ceremony
Dr. Anindita Sen

Live Orchestra musicians
Vocalists : Smt. Geetha Navanithan and Sri.Sai Rathinasabapathy
Mridangam : Sri.Ganesan Gajendran
Violin : Sri.Jayaprakash Pakala
Flute : Sri.Nataraj Gunda